Mantle for Linux seems to be a go

AMD’s Mantle has been one of the most controversial moves of the company for quite some time. But it’s still bound on Windows – just not for long.

With the rise of SteamOS and other technologies, Linux gaming seems to be entering the mainstream more and more, so naturally one of the technologies that could achieve that is Mantle. AMD hadn’t been concrete about its plans so far, we had read conflicting reports about the availability of Mantle in Linux. But during an interview to PC World, Richard Huddy, who is back in full force at AMD, mentioned that the high-performance API will indeed come to Linux boxes:

Around 50 games have been developed or will be released soon using Mantle tools, with more in the works. Beyond Windows, AMD sees a vast opportunity to “reveal the goodness of gaming” in Linux, said Richard Huddy, gaming scientist at AMD.

The company has received requests from developers to port Mantle to Linux, Huddy said. AMD over time will dedicate resources to the task, Huddy said. AMD hasn’t provided a time frame for when Mantle-based games for Linux will become available

Mantle could also come to Steam boxes, which are gaming consoles with PC hardware and Linux-based SteamOS. The highly anticipated Steam boxes were conceptualized by Valve, one of the world’s largest game sellers.

“It could provide some advantages on Steam boxes,” Huddy said. “We are getting requests to deliver this high-performance layer.”